Doe Behavior Before the Rut

Range of Activity

• During pre-rut, whitetail biologists John Ozoga and Lou Verme found that does begin roaming less, restricting their activity to smaller and smaller areas -- and become up to 28 times more active than normal -- activity which ceases after the rut. According to the researchers, this heightened activity in the smaller area may help attract bucks and advertise their readiness to mate. In one case, the smaller area of activity was found to be 30 feet in diameter.

Time of Activity

• The majority of pre-rut deer activity is relegated to hours at sunrise and sunset, typically a window of two to four hours at both times of day. According to biologists, one hour before sunrise to 3.5 hours after sunrise, is the peak time for mornings. Evening activity is far shorter in nature, and while the majority of activity is clocked from half an hour before sunset to one hour after, much activity also happens as much as one hour before -- to 30 minutes after.

Diet

• Does eat more -- and more frequently -- during pre-rut times, and will subsist on nuts, succulent greens, forage and crops. A doe's pre-rut nutrition affects when she will come into breeding condition, so hunters and researchers may measure the start and length of a breeding season by available forage. If deer are nutritionally stressed -- unable to meet their nutritional needs -- they will spend more time and energy foraging, which means their bodies have less energy to devote to reproductive needs. According to T.R. Michels, a nationally recognized wildlife researcher and author of the "Deer Addict's Manuals," "In one study, when acorn production was low, it resulted in less rubbing/scraping behavior by bucks, which could result in does coming into estrus later, with a less intense and longer breeding phase than normal."

Other Behaviors

• Pre-rut is often dominated by sparring matches by bucks and scent broadcasting by does. Frequent urinating and body rubbing against brush is the most common way does broadcast their scent during this time. Does will also remain closer to their fawns at this stage; during pre-rut and rut, fawns stand a greater chance of being chased from their mothers by bucks, to induce estrus in does.